*Sophia Nomvete, who plays Disa in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” is speaking out about the racist backlash she received upon joining the series.
Apparently, fans of the Tolkien universe have decided that Black people have no place in this fantastical world. Nomvete told The Hollywood Reporter during its second annual Raising Our Voices luncheon that playing the first female dwarf of color “was a huge moment, both personally and professionally. And I think I kind of skipped in naively thinking that it’s gonna be great. I’m a dwarf, it’s gonna be such fun.”
“When the announcement came out and pictures went up about just our faces of who we were playing, I was statistically the most attacked castmember of the entire show,” she continued. “There were N-bombs, I had no place here. ‘You’re too fat, you’re too black. Why are you here?’ I had one that was actually very polite, who said, ‘I’m sure that you’re a wonderful actress and a really lovely person. I just, I don’t think you should be part of this, it’s not right. If you could potentially just send a letter to Amazon with your resignation, I’d be very grateful.’”
Nomvete continued, “I thought, ‘No, I’m not going to do that, I can’t.’ I can’t afford to resign for you, so sadly I’m here to stay.”
According to THR, her family was also threatened over the casting.
“I realized that my place in this show is not just a celebration, it is an act of defiance against a reality that is simply not true, which is that we have no place on screens or in fantasy spaces,” Nomvete explained.
When her daughter ultimately saw Nomvete’s face on a billboard in London, the actress realized at that moment that “for the future of our industry and the generation, it is a must that I stand in my power and my light and do as much as I can with this character,” she said at the THR luncheon earlier this month.
Sophia Nomvete is Princess Disa.
It’s time to return to Middle-earth. #TheRingsOfPower creators unpack the making of the series, calling it “one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters” of their lives. https://t.co/X3ODJmbcbj pic.twitter.com/bo9NVcwGsU
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 2, 2022
Nomvete “went through the seven stages of grief by reading some of the comments” before she finally “understood the assignment.”
“I understood the assignment, and that was to help people understand and to embrace them and love them — you would never disregard a child if they were scared. They’re scared,” she said.
“They’re frightened because they haven’t seen us before,” the actress noted.
“So in that moment and throughout this show, I’ve made it my mission to ease their fear, and to let them understand and to help educate them that it’s OK, that we can tell a story, that we can be here and the show will be better for it, that our industry and our world will be better for it,” Nomvete said.
READ MORE: ‘The Rings of Power’ to Take LOTR Fans ‘On A New Experience’
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